Minichamps MIN122020003 2002 Aprilia RSV250 MS Aprilia Racing GP Motorcycle - Marco Melandri (1:12 Scale)"It was so difficult, but I had nothing to lose in the championship which perhaps gave me the room to try things. I decided to stop at the same time as everyone else, and when I started again it was very difficult, because the tyres were new."- Marco 'Macio' Melandri

Aprilia was founded immediately after the Second World War by Cavaliere Alberto Beggio, as a bicycle production factory at Noale, Italy in the province of Venice.

Alberto's son, Ivano Beggio, took over the helm of the company in 1968 and he constructed a 50 cc "motorcycle" with a dozen or so collaborators. The first production Aprilia mopeds were named Colibri, Daniela and Packi. Aprilia later produced a motocross bike in 1970 called the Scarabeo. Produced until the end of the 1970s, the Scarabeo came in 50 and 125 cc versions.

In 1977 Ivan Alborghetti from Milan, Italy won the Italian 125 and 250 cc motorcross championships on Aprilias. In 1978 Alborghetti closed the season with two third places in individual races and sixth place in the World Championship.

In the 1980s Aprilia added enduro, trials and road bikes of between 50 and 600 cc. In 1981 Aprilia introduced the TL320 trials machine. In 1983 Aprilia launched to St 125 road bike. In 1984 Aprilia launched an improved model called STX, and an enduro, called the ET 50.

In 1985, Aprilia started outsourcing engines for some models to the Austrian company Rotax. In 1985 Aprilia launched a 125 STX and 350 STX. In 1986 Aprilia launched the AF1; a small sports model, and the Tuareg; a large tanked bike for African rallies. Aprilia rider Philippe Berlatier contended for the trials world championship reaching fifth place, and Loris Reggiani rode an Aprilia GP 250 with Rotax engine to sixth place in the road racing World Championship. Two seasons later, on August 30th, 1987, at San Marino Grand Prix in Misano Loris Reggiani's AF1 won the first World Speed Championship.

In 1988, the first Aprilias were imported into the United States, starting with the TRX312M observed trials model. The following year, Aprilia introduced The Climber, the first "mass-production" liquid-cooled trials bike. In 1990, Aprilia launched the Pegaso 600, a road bike derived from off-road mechanics.

Historical Account: "For Italia" - Born on August 7th, 1982, in Ravenna, Italy, Marco Melandri is an Italian MotoGP road racer currently racing for Team Fortuna Honda. He won the 250cc world title in 2002, moving up to MotoGP with Yamaha 2003. Unfortunately he broke his leg in a heavy crash in this first race meeting, and struggled to succeed for the rest of the season. In 2004 he was on the Tech 3 Yamaha alongside Norick Abe, and again struggled to get top results.

He was a surprise choice by team boss Fausto Gresini to join Sete Gibernau in his team, but proved to be the revelation of the season, with a consistent run of podium finishes early in the season, ultimately taking his first two wins in the final two races of the season to clinch second place in the championship. He was the first Honda rider to win back-to-back races for nearly two years, winning round 16 of MotoGP championship at Istanbul Park with a time of 41:44.139.